Through Lifetimes
by resoundingdeluge
Summary: A conversation without words in hopes of breaking a cycle without end.


_Salem._

_Once, there was a time when your name evoked the imagery of the most colorful, aromatic flowers that our world had to offer. Every time you returned the call with my own name, I could feel the butterflies drawn to such things fluttering within my stomach. Life was a fairy tale, when we were together._

_The first time, at least._

_I remember precious little of that first set of final years. Now, I can barely see you as you were, leaning over me and begging me not to leave you. I remember a sensation of wet droplets on my face as you held my hands, and then, what has now become a familiar, all-encompassing darkness. I never really expected to see the light again, but I did expect that if I ever had a second chance, it would radiate from your beautiful smile._

_How wrong I was._

_I suppose a part of me knew, from the moment I saw your new, twisted form, that something was very wrong. That the fairy tale was over, and all that remained was a nightmare. I knew, but I didn't want to believe it. There was just enough of the sunshine of your smile left to convince me to set aside my fears, as I walked up the steps to your cottage. The cottage of 'the witch', as those people once called you. Part of me insisted on convincing the rest of me that they simply didn't understand. The other part wanted to make an ultimatum, then and there, to follow the will of the gods or separate forever. In the end, I think my indecision is what caused our relationship, and our world, to become what it is now._

_You have my sincerest apologies, both for what I did, and what I must now find a way to do._

* * *

**Ozma.**

**Once, there was a time when I associated your name with strength. Resolve. And yes, even love. You were a steadfast warrior, a forthright and resolute defender of all that was good in the world, and all that was good in me. I was your princess, and you were the knight who won my hand. Nothing caused me more pain than when I had to end your life, after begging to have it restored.**

**The first time, at least.**

**I remember all of it. Every single time that I, or my followers have taken your life, only for you to come crawling back to make another attempt on mine. I remember every vain hope I've seen fizzle from your lifeless eyes as you fall, and each time, it brings about a different feeling. The first instance brought heartbreak and desperation. Every instance since has filled me nothing but hatred, and the resolve that you once held to stand at my side. I honestly thought that you would continue to stand with me, and shape this world into what it needs to be as an affront to the gods.**

**How wrong I was.**

**It should have been clear, when you arrived at my home after years of absence. Your new body didn't suit you- I honestly never liked it. Something vile and self-righteous had taken the place of the self-sacrificing and virtuous glint in your eyes that I once knew. I should have seen your betrayal coming. I should have seen past the façade you projected. And yet, for a moment, I allowed myself to be drawn in by false promises made flesh. There are no second chances as honest as the first, when it comes to hearts.**

**You have my undying hatred, both for what you did, and what you're trying to do now.**

* * *

_I can't quite see your so-called home from Beacon Tower, but I can see a foreboding darkness upon the horizon that draws my eyes toward it every time I ascend that monolith. Something within me draws me to look, as if I'll see you staring back, against all logic and distance._

_Somehow, I know in my heart that you do the same. I just wish that I knew why._

_My time as "Professor Ozpin" has been perhaps the most difficult of any of my lives. The more I research, the more I question, and the more answers I find, the harder it gets to find the strength to keep going. If I am honest, the only reason I continue on with my task is for you. I know that you must be stopped, but I also know that the Salem I loved would want me to stop her, if she knew what she would become. I do this for your memory._

_My flawed, wonderful memories of our life together._

_That is why, when I held the Relic of Knowledge in my hands, I asked how I could stop you. I will admit, for but a moment, another question was on the tip of my tongue. I almost asked "What must I do to win you back?" but I knew that the answer would be something I couldn't accept. In a way, it's easier to hear that I am bound to fail at my task of putting a stop to your madness than it is to hear that I am bound to fail at restoring the past. Still, though, I must vainly hope that there is a way._

_Our conflict cannot be allowed to doom the entire world. To allow such a thing is to commit the ultimate act of selfishness._

* * *

**Every night, I make my way to the top of a crag surrounding the grimm pools, only to see the same sickly, yellow pinpricks of light coming from the windows of your tower on the horizon. I can see you sitting at your desk in my mind's eye, staring straight back from on high, where you think you belong.**

**Somehow, it seems fitting that you are now the waif trapped within the tower, awaiting rescue from a tragic fate. Unfortunately for you, you'll find no knight coming to your aid.**

**Never has this been so easy as it is for me now. Death after death, cycle after cycle, you return like a cockroach and only incite more anger within me. You have become a symbol for humanity itself, and absolute proof that I must stamp out what embers remain within the brittle, decaying husk of a once roaring flame. We were meant to inherit this world together, but now, you leave me no choice but to rule it from atop a twisted throne of corpses and ash. All that will remain when my work is done is but a memory.**

**My perfect, upsetting memory of how you were ripped away from me.**

**The headmaster of a huntsman's academy is the farthest form you've ever occupied from the truth. No position amongst scholars or academics is anywhere near who you really are, and the most pathetic part is that you likely don't even know it. There's so much you don't know about the truth of this world, and the truth of my power and situation. Never once since you confessed your true allegiances have I wavered. Never once have I questioned the path I walk to raze this world to its very foundations, and call back those who would dare to judge us.**

**There is only one possible action left to me, and that fact has not changed in millennia. I will see this world consumed in hellfire and darkness of my own making, or watch as the brothers do it for me.**

* * *

**_Though I can no longer see you at the moment, I know you. Even without speaking, I can sense your thoughts, and I know exactly what it is that you want. Had I the opportunity, all I would say at this point is that you're wrong, and it has to be this way. There can be no resolution. There can be no compromise. Day by day, I gather my armies to do what must be done, to the one person I never thought I would need to raise them against. Our stalemate has felt endless, and our love is long gone. This time, however, things will be different._**

**_This time, I will not rest until I make sure you get exactly what you deserve._**


End file.
